women

Leaders of some women’s groups are protesting the treatment of Marjorie Quin – the only woman considered for nomination as new director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation – when she was interviewed by the TBI Nominating Commission, according to Nashville news media. Quin is a retired TBI agent who specialized in handling sex trafficking cases.

Women’s March events in Tennessee, held in conjunction with similar rallies around the nation, drew thousands of participants, according to media reports. It appears the best-attended events were in Nashville on Saturday and Knoxville on Sunday.

Maury County Democratic Party Chairman Seth James Campbell resigned from the office Tuesday, reports the Columbia Daily Herald. Tennessee Democratic Party Chair Mary Mancini had called for him to do so after reports that he slightly injured his girlfriend in a confrontation, though the woman declined to prosecute and asked that a a domestic violence charge be dismissed. It was.

Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero won’t say so out loud, but her election in 2011 and the efforts of a group called Women’s March Knoxville, helped pave the way for a transformation of city government in last week’s Knoxville elections, according to the News Sentinel.

For the first time in city history, four women will sit on the council. With Rogero included, the city’s representation will be five men, five women.

Comments collected by The Tennessean from three women running for the Republican gubernatorial nomination on the prospect of becoming the first female to hold office as Tennessee governor:

Diane Black: “It would be truly historic but I will tell you even more historic to me is to know that I would be the 50th governor of the state of Tennessee. That is the history that we would make.”

Beth Harwell: “I don’t think anyone should vote for me because I am a woman but I would tell you the historical significance is great. And it’s especially so because in the year 2020 this state will celebrate a hundred years of being the state that made it possible for women to earn the right to vote. I think it’d be nice to have a female governor at that point.”

Mae Beavers: “Of course it would have significance. It would kind of be overwhelming I would think. But it’s all about doing what’s right for the state of Tennessee.”

Nashville —Emerge Tennessee has named a Memphis native as Executive Director. Kristal Knight, a former executive in the office of Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser as well as a member of the team of presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, will officially join Emerge Tennessee Feb. 21. Emerge Tennessee is the 17th and southernmost affiliate of Emerge America, which inspires Democratic women to run for office and hones their skills to win. Emerge’s goal is clear: to increase the number of Democratic women in public office.